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Support Orianna

I haven't tried it yet, but as a support main, seeing the rise of Zyra support really got me thinking about what other extremely unorthodox supports could actually become mainstream if played right. One of my first thoughts was Orianna. Think about it:

Pros:
- She has a pretty good shield that also has the potential to do some damage
- Her shield ALSO give bonus armor/magic resistance to the player it's on
- She has an damaging AoE slow (Command: Dissonance)
- Her AoE slow is ALSO an AoE speed boost for allies
- She has the potential for extreme zoning early game (Command: Attack paired with Clockwork Windup)
- Very safe and reliable scouting tool for checking for ganks when out of wards or checking the brush in lane
- When she hits 6, her utility ramps up extremely high (Command: Shockwave displacement)
- The combination of Dissonance and Shockwave would make for a potent setup for a potential gank or kill
- Late game utility is enormous, allowing for great initiates the same ways AP Mid Orianna does, but allowing room for a character that has a bit more damage and less utility (e.g. Karthus, Katarina, etc)

Cons:
- High early game mana costs (but then again, you wouldn't be spamming skills extremely often)
- Lack of items causes no scaling in damage (which is why her utility is so important)
- Lack of items might cause extreme squishiness, resulting in lots of dying (but then again, this is the same problem Sona and Zyra have - positioning would be the key to not dying)
- No reliable way to escape/prevent chasing at early levels (at later levels, Command: Dissonance would have a strong enough slow to stop ganks or get out of sticky situations)

My thought here is that if she were to get hit by a Blitzcrank pull or a Taric stun, other squishy supports like Zyra and Soraka have ways to soak up tons of damage/stop the enemy from dealing tons of damage, where Orianna might not have that ability until Dissonance is a higher level

In response to the cons - as far as I can tell, with the new items, if you were to get an early Kage's, and upgrade that to Shard of True Ice, you wouldn't have too much trouble with getting items to stay relevant in fights. The only real problem I can forsee is the really high mana costs early game, but AP Mid Orianna has the same problem, so rushing a Chalice could easily solve that. (the Chalice can come before or after the Kage's, depending on how the game is going, and now that the Chalice builds into Mikael's Crucible, her Chalice would have a natural support-oriented upgrade)

For a full build, I was thinking something like:
- CDR Boots (Upgraded with whatever you prefer)
- Mikael's Crucible (Natural support path from an early Chalice)
- Shard of True Ice (Upgrade of early Kage's, great for initiates)
- Ruby Sightstone (Because I believe you should never get rid of it - wards are essential to good gameplay)
- Rylai's Crystal Scepter (For even more slow, some health and extra AP)
- Zhonya's/Frozen Heart (Both for armor, Zhonya's if your team needs a bit of extra damage, Frozen Heart for some extra CDR and even MORE slow)

Just an idea I had with some theory and math behind it. I'll be trying it in the near future, and I'll probably post an update here to let you guys know how it went. Obviously, I'll do a premade for the first few times, because otherwise my team will call troll on me and afk or something stupid, and the ones who don't initially will if I do badly.

I've actually played her support a few games and she does excellent. Her ball is like a free ward, plus easy harass. I actually forced a darius away from turret farm because she can harass like a baws. With such a short CD on Q... I didn't even have to shield the jax I was playing with. I just harassed darius out of lane all by myself. When he stuck around at 300 hp a little later, jax jumped on him and ignite, + my Q and he was finished.

Just one example. =3
Edit: I would show you a lolreplay but for some reason the game won't upload

I've actually played her support a few games and she does excellent. Her ball is like a free ward, plus easy harass. I actually forced a darius away from turret farm because she can harass like a baws. With such a short CD on Q... I didn't even have to shield the jax I was playing with. I just harassed darius out of lane all by myself. When he stuck around at 300 hp a little later, jax jumped on him and ignite, + my Q and he was finished.

Just one example. =3
Edit: I would show you a lolreplay but for some reason the game won't upload

I would love to see a replay if you ever get it working. I'll be trying it out this week (if I ever get any free time), and I'll hopefully upload my replay, albeit with a disclaimer saying I'm ~1200 elo.

Why no philo stone? It will solve mana problems, builds into support goodies, and is a gp10.

I didn't include a philo stone because I've found in S3 that there is less of a need for multiple gold items, and I already included Kage's (not to mention that Shard of True Ice doesn't lose the passive)
I would think that having an early Chalice would help with the mana problems a lot more than a Philo stone, and the Chalice would build into Mikael's, but someone else said they used the exact same build, but switched Mikael's with Shureylia's, so a philo stone could work. Up to you - I just shared my theoretical build.

The main reason I don't suggest a Philo -> Shureylia's is because her Dissonance already gives a huge speed boost to her team, which is pretty much the only reason you'd get the item in the first place.

also The item build between shur and crucible is purely preference. I prefer to moving fast than giving someone a little health and a cleanse because it doesn't cure DOTs or anything like that. (Like the old cleanse used to. Once cleanse lost that effect.. it wasn't worth getting anymore.) They both have benefits, but I just like the extra gold and movement speed.

*EDIT*
Here is the link to it... I think. It says internal server error for me. Oohttp://www.leaguereplays.com/replays/1155474